


Too Close To The Dark

by AEJB_writes



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Best Friends, Book 5: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Cross-Posted on Wattpad, Dark Lord Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy - Freeform, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fanfiction, Good Draco Malfoy, Good Slytherins, I got too into dracotok and now I’m thinking this might have been a mistake, Not Canon Compliant - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Redeemed Draco Malfoy, Slytherin Harry Potter, Slytherins Being Slytherins, Top Draco Malfoy, harry potter fandom, maybe smut??
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:13:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28454424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AEJB_writes/pseuds/AEJB_writes
Summary: Draco Malfoy and Aliana Carrow have been best friends for some time now. But after the return of the Dark Lord following the Triwizaed Tournament, there is increasing pressure on the both of them to follow in their parents' footsteps and take the dark mark.Aliana can see Draco is struggling more than the others around her, and she vows to care for him until the darkness claims them.But at what cost?
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 1





	1. Thestrels

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! This is my first attempt at fanfics so please be gentle — constructive criticism WILL be needed haha. 
> 
> I’ve added a load of OC’s and so it won’t be cannon compliant, I’m sorry! 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading, I love you 
> 
> A.E.J.B xoxo

This year, more students could see the carriages that took them from the station to the school. 

The two deaths at Hogwarts the year before, the year of his return, had made their way through Hogwarts' collective psyche, and Aliana watched as some of those in the other houses took in the huge, haunting forms of the thestrels, hooked up to the carriages and pulling them to the main gates. 

Aliana hopped into the carriage beside Draco Malfoy and a few of the others from the Slytherin coach on the train, tossing them a smile as she did. Many of them had been able to see the thestrels before last year, with the connections to the Deatheaters that their families had. She felt sorry for the other students, but faintly jealous that their first touch of death was simply a fellow student. 

"Did you hear?" Pansy Parkinson drawled from Draco's other side, "Potter was almost kicked out over the summer. Showed his muggle family the patronus charm and got dragged to the Ministry." 

"My father works at the Ministry, of course I knew," Draco responded impatiently, rolling his eyes. 

Aliana smiled to herself, flicking at the corners of her green painted nails. Everyone knew that Pansy was after Draco (she hadn't left his side throughout the last two years, laughing at his jokes and simpering after him when he was hurt after The Incident with the hippogriff, Buckbeak) but everyone knew, equally, that Draco wasn't interested. She'd been friends with Pansy during first year, and didn't find her abhorrent now but when she and Draco started getting closer, Aliana and Pansy's friendship grew ... colder. 

The rest of the carriage ride was filled with similar wry comments and bad jokes from the boys that were followed by a strained sort of laughter. Aliana could tell that more than just her felt uneasy returning to Hogwarts for their fifth year. 

The carriage pulled up outside of the castle's main doors, Filch standing with his cat and his lantern in the doorway, muttering about how the students always brought trouble to Hogwarts. 

Draco and Aliana shared a smile as they passed him, with Draco's eyes flicking to the cat and back to Ali's wide green ones. It was a running joke between the two that Mrs Norris was some sort of animagus, and in spite of being married to the reeking heap of a man, she stayed in cat form so as to avoid Filch as much as possible. Now, the two of them couldn't look at the cat and caretaker pair without sharing at least a smile, at worse, a fit of giggles. 

The fifth years filed into the Great Hall, with Aliana's group taking their seats along the Slytherin table. From across the room, she locks eyes with Harry Potter, who had been scanning his eyes over Draco, Blaise and Pansy as they sat down before murmuring something to his friends. This didn't go unnoticed by Draco, who's fist clenched beside her on the table. 

"Hey," she said, passing her fingertips over his clenched knuckles, "d'you know why Mad-Eye was such a bad teacher?" 

Bad jokes had become a habit for them, during times they needed to relax. At her touch, he unclenched his fist and turned to meet her gaze. 

"I don't know, Al," he sighed with a smile, "which reason should I say first?" 

"Don't be smart," she chided, smiling back up at him, "it's because he can't control his pupils." 

Draco chuckled through his nose and shook his head, before turning to watch the first years crowd through the Great Hall doors. 

Pursing her lips, Aliana turned her focus back on the trio at the Gryffindor table. Hermione was leaning over to talk to Ginny Weasley about something in earnest, and Harry's gaze was still fixed on her best friend. 

This year is going to be long and painful, she thought as the bat began to sing, and those three aren't going to make it much easier.


	2. Grindylows

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I know this one's pretty awful but I've been really rushed in writing this! We've got mock exams in the UK coming up and nobody knows what Boris is planning for education with the pandemic right now :/ 
> 
> The next one will be better, I promise!

A few hours later, with her belly full of food and a satisfied feeling in her chest, Aliana sat cross-legged on one of the black leather couches in the common room with her friend Opal Rabbot, watching the Giant Squid chase Grindylows in front of the large window looking into the lake. It was late, nearing midnight but Aliana's parents had forbidden her from sending letters to her muggle-born friends over the long summer break, and the pair had a lot to catch up on. 

"So, why don't his parents like you?" Aliana asked, taking a sip of her vanilla and chamomile tea. 

"Because they're convinced I'm a completely unbaptised heathen, and he's the vicar's son soooo..." Opal chuckled, and Ali rolled her eyes. 

"You'd better not tell them you're a witch, they'll go completely round the bend." Wiggling her eyebrows and laughing, Aliana turned her attention back to the Squid's antics. 

She was secretly relieved that Opal didn't hold her parents' commands against her. They had spent most of the evening comforting the new first year Slytherins, telling them stories of the good times they'd had at the school in spite of the boos they had received themselves from the other houses at the sorting. Blaise and Draco had sat behind the pair as they talked, Opal slowly convincing the muggle-born Slytherins that they could find a home with the other ambitious students in spite of the reputation the house name carried with it. Ali felt Draco's eyes burning a hole into the back of her head as Opal said this, but she refused to turn and meet his gaze. He knew in ways the others didn't the panic that arose in her at the idea of her parents making her leave behind her muggleborn friends, and the shame she felt when she looked at the newly sorted Slytherins every year, often many of whom were crying following the social condemnation of the sorting. 

There was a brief, comfortable silence as they both stated from the common room window, lost in their own worlds, until a floorboard creaked from the doorway to the boy's dormitory, and Draco Malfoy strode into the ring of couches and flopped down on the one opposite Ali. 

"You two should be in bed," he said, pointing a long index finger between the two girls as he spoke. 

"We could say she same about you, Malfoy," Ali drawled, as Opal smiled and quietly stood, collecting her things from the coffee table and slinking off to the girls dorm with a quiet good-night sentiment. 

Once the door closed behind her, Aliana turned to him with an accusative look. 

"You scare away all of my normal friends," she frowned, although they both know she wasn't entirely serious. She often thought that he could do a little more to convince the others that he wasn't a complete arse, but she knew that his aloofness was most likely just a way of ensuring the others didn't get hurt. 

"What can I say?" He shrugged, "The presence of the Slytherin prince is just too much for some people." 

Ali rolled her eyes, and he chuckled. 

"Does your brain short-circuit before you speak?" She retorted, and he shook his head. 

The Squid tossed a Grindylow at full force towards the window, causing a 'clunk' that sent a shock through Aliana, almost having her jump right out of her skin. She burst out in a fit of embarrassed giggles, covering her face with her hands. 

"Sorry," she sighed, rubbing her eyes with the heels of her hands, "clearly you're right -- its passed my bedtime." 

Draco smiled and said nothing, tapping his long fingers against his temple. Their silences were usually the most comforting, so in spite of her words, she settled back into the cushions of the couch, a drowsy satisfaction settling over her. Their classes didn't start until after the weekend, so she had all night to stay up reading or gazing from the common room windows, pretending the rest of the world didn't exist. 

"Ali," Draco said, breaking her train of thought, "can I ask you something?" 

She though about teasing him, but he seemed uncharacteristically unsure, so she let it slide and just hummed an agreement. When he didn't respond, she turned to look at him, puzzled. His grey eyes were already watching her, with a strange nervousness that she couldn't place. Tilting her head to the side, she raised an eyebrow at him. 

"You ok there, Malfoy?" She asked, half-teasingly. 

He shook his head, "Nothing -- you going to the thing tomorrow night?" 

"Its not really my thing," she pursed her lips, "but I'll probably show my face if you promise not to be a total arse." She winked at him, and he broke unto his usual cocky smirk.

"I can't be making lofty promises like that, now, can I?" He responded, standing and striding over to her and ruffling her hair. 

Batting him away, Ali hopped up from the couch herself, scrunching her nose in a smile. 

"Well then, my apologies, Slytherin Prince, but I really must be going to bed." 

They murmured their goodnights and she flopped into her bed a few moments later, mind buzzing. What had he wanted to ask her, and what would this next year bring?


End file.
